Is it Love?
by Greek Penguin
Summary: When Titania and Juliana are captured, Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin go to rescue them, but will they be the ones who need saving in the end?
1. In the Beginning

**Chapter 1**

Merlin entered the room hesitantly.

"You called, Sire?"

"No, one of the many girls pining after you did. Of course I did you bumbling idiot!" grumbled Arthur.

_Well, I guess SOMEONE'S in a mood_, he thought. _Better go see what he wants_.

"What is it? You seem in an especially bad mood this morning," said Merlin.

"Well let's see how great YOUR mood is when your father dies and leaves an entire country for you to rule! You can't even begin to imagine the paperwork!" Arthur groaned.

_You have no idea. I've had to hide my magic, my dad died, leaving me as the last dragon lord, and on top of all that, I've had to save your sorry butt more times than I can count…_

"Sorry, guess I can't really relate since I'm just a servant. Have you tried talking to Titania? She always seems to calm you down. It's like she's got special powers or something," suggested Merlin, with a note of admiration in his voice. He'd always liked her, but it seemed she didn't even know he existed.

"I would, but she went on border patrol with Leon, Percival, Elyon, and Lancelot four days ago. They should have been back by now!"

"Well why don't we go try to find her? It could be an adventure, just like we used to have all the time! We could bring Gwaine with us," suggested Merlin.

"I wish I could, Merlin, I really do, but I have more responsibilities as a king now! I can't just disappear and leave Camelot to fend for itself!" Arthur argued.

"Just do what Uther did when he went on long journeys and leave Gauis and your advisers in charge until you return. Gauis won't let anything get out of hand, you know that," persuaded Merlin.

"Oh alright! Just know, if ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING, happens while we're gone, I'm blaming you!"

"I wouldn't expect anything else. Let's go find Gwaine and then we can talk to Gauis."


	2. Oh, Gwaine

**Chapter 2**  
><strong>Arthur and Merlin find Gwaine drinking in the tavern.<strong>

"Heeeeeeeey! Look who it issssss! The KING! I feel sooooooo bleeeessssed!" slurred Gwaine. It was pretty obvious he had had a few too many pints and would probably need help walking, let alone going on a quest. That would be, if it was anyone other than Gwaine. He could outdrink the best and still walk away smiling. Unfortunately, he also tended to get into more bar fights than the average person, but everyone has their faults.

"Gwaine, I need to talk to you. In private, please," whispered Arthur.

"Oooooooh! The KING needs to talk to me in PRIIIIIIVAAAAATE!" Gwaine shouted.

Arthur looked around embarrassed and noticed a couple people were staring at them, and they were gradually attracting a crowd.

"That's it. Come on Gwaine, I think you've had enough for one night. Merlin, come help me!" demanded Arthur.

"An escort! Awwwwwww, you shouldn't haaaaaave!" It seemed to Arthur that Gwaine was purposely trying to make this look awkward, which, knowing Gwaine, he probably was. By this time, their little "conversation" had attracted to attention of almost everyone in the tavern.

"Come on Gwaine!" yelled Merlin, who was getting a bit impatient.

_ If only I could use my magic, I could have Gwaine out like a light and we wouldn't even have this problem, but noooooo! The greatest king of Camelot that ever was who was SUPPOSED to bring about the age of magic again still insists on persecuting everyone with magic, even the Druids! I've never seen a Druid hurt ANYTHING! It seems that nothing has changed…_

Together, Arthur and Merlin managed to drag Gwaine outside of the tavern, though not without a few odd looks and shoves.

"Why do you insist on drinking this much every night?! What will Jules say this time?!" reminded Merlin, talking about Juliana, Gwaine's girlfriend of two years. They made a cute couple, though how she put up with his drinking and childish attitude escaped Merlin and pretty much everyone who knew Gwaine. Since they started dating, Gwaine's drinking had significantly lessened, and she kept him in check most of the time, but since she was a servant, she had many duties and had been out of town for four days since she was sent out with the border patrol.

Merlin knew Gwaine was anxious for her to come back and would jump at the chance to go with them to find her, if he could only get Gwaine to stop babbling long enough to tell him their plan.

"Gwaine! Stop pulling my shoe off! People are staring!" Arthur yelled, his face turning bright red when he turned and saw that people were coming out of the tavern to see what all the yelling was about.

Merlin hurried over to help Arthur and together they dragged Gwaine out of town into the woods.

"Will you just listen to me for a MINUTE?! Is that too much to ask?" yelled an increasingly irritated Arthur.

"Okaaaaaay, keep your pants on," sang Gwaine.

"You are so weird, Gwaine," commented Merlin.

"Thank you."

"Okaaaay. Merlin and I are going out to find Titania and the rest of the border patrol. We, well Merlin, wants you to come along."

"Why should I? After all, you did just drag me out of a tavern against my will!" Gwaine shouted, the anger sobering him up faster than any potion.

"Because, Gwaine, Juliana is with them, and they've been gone for almost five days now on what should have been an overnight patrol to Cenred's kingdom. I'm worried about my knights, and I'm sure you're worried about Juliana," explained Arthur.


	3. Authors Note :) 1

I hope you guys like the story so far! I don't know how often I'll update, but I'm trying for twice a week. Once school starts it will be a bit harder, so if I'm late please don't shoot me  
>Thanks so much for reading this! Comments are great and they really inspire me to write, so please comment!<br>(Sorry if there's any errors, I'm doing my own proofreading)


	4. The Fire

**Chapter 3**

"Well why didn't you say so! Of course I'll go save Juliana! I can be her knight in shining armor!" Gwaine exclaimed.

"I knew you'd want to come," said Merlin. "Now let's get you back to the castle."

All of a sudden, a peasant comes running up the path from the nearby village. He was dirty, as was to be expected of a peasant, but he seemed to be dirtier than usual, almost like he was covered in ash… wait, he WAS covered in ash! Now that he thought about it, Merlin could smell smoke coming from the path.

"Excuse me! Kind sirs, could you please help me! Our village is on fire!" shouted the peasant as he was running down the road.

Arthur ran up to the man and immediately asked for information, how big was the fire, what started it, etc., and while he was distracted, Merlin turned to Gwaine.

"Hey Gwaine, look over there! It's a purple flying fish!" yelled Merlin, trying to distract Gwaine so he could cast a spell to sober him up.

"What! Where?"

_It's sad really, how drunk he was…_

"Aesweotol arceh´ad anda."  
>A glint shone in Merlin's eyes, but was gone in an instant.<p>

"What's going on? Why is my face in this bush?" asked Gwaine, now thoroughly confused.

"Merlin! Gwaine! Let's go! I think we can take care of this fire on our own, since it doesn't sound too big," called Arthur.

He hadn't seemed to notice the wind had blown some soot off of the peasant onto his face, giving him a long black streak over half his face.

"We better hurry. I don't know why we're here, but Arthur always seems to get into trouble with no one to supervise him," Gwaine stated, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably.

They ran after the peasant until they got to the village. The "little fire" turned out to be half the village burning, and the other half quickly catching up. The roofs were made of dry straw, after all.

"Merlin!" called Arthur, "go get the other knights! We can't risk the forest catching fire!"

"On it!"

Merlin sprinted away to the other side of the village. He was planning on following Arthur's orders, but he realized it would be impossible to get help before the entire village was consumed.

_I have to do something or the village, and all of the forest will be destroyed..._

Being careful to avoid Arthur, he ran around the village, looking for a water source. The smoke was choking, and made it really hard to see, but he eventually found a medium sized pond. Once again calling on his magic, he started to put out small fires, trying not to make it obvious magic was involved.

**Arthur's P.O.V.**  
>"Gwaine, help me get the villagers to form a bucket line! We have to put out the biggest fires!"<p>

I don't know how this started, but whoever was responsible would be punished harshly. I only hope we can put this fire out before all the villagers lose their homes.  
><strong>End Arthur's P.O.V.<strong>

Merlin had successfully put out all but the largest fires, and they were quickly being doused by the villagers who, under Arthur and Gwaine's guidance, had proved to be quite effective.

Running over to Gwaine, Merlin tried to make it look like he had run a long ways.

"Where are the rest of the knights?" demanded Gwaine.

"I couldn't get through the fire. It was too hot and smoky."

Arthur ran over, looking mad.

"What took you so long!? We already have it under control, no thanks to you, a—Wait, where are the knights?

"He couldn't get through to the castle. The fire was too big." Gwaine interrupted.

"Then where the heck were you?!"

_ See how appreciated I am. If not for me, this whole village would have burned down! But I can't tell Arthur about my magic, so I guess I get to play the idiot servant card…_

"I got lost in the smoke and ended up in the forest. It took me a while to find my way back," Merlin said sheepishly.

"You idiot! You—You-! Ugh!"

Arthur was getting really mad now. Time to distract him.

"Sorry, but shouldn't we get back to the castle? We need to get ready to leave at dawn, and we haven't asked Gaius to run the kingdom while we're gone," Merlin reminded.

"You're right! Can't believe I almost forgot to talk to G—Wait, are you trying to distract me?!"

"I would never! Come on, Arthur, do you really think that I, a servant, could distract you, the KING of CAMELOT?" Merlin persuaded.

"You do have a point there. I'm pretty much the smartest man to ever live!" boasted Arthur.

_ Wow! Proud and gullible! How does this kingdom stay strong with rulers like THIS. Ah well, still got to protect him, since he is my friend and the king who's supposed to bring back the Old Religion. I just wish he would hurry up and accep__t magic…_


	5. Tricking Gaius

**Chapter 4**

"Merlin! Hurry up! That cow is walking faster than you!" Arthur complained.

_ Well if you would carry your own bags, I might move a little faster…_

"Yah, come on Merlin. If you don't hurry up, Arthur might find Titania first, and then they'll fall in love, and get married, and have seven k—"goaded Gwaine.

"Shut up!" yelled Merlin, turning red.

He had never talked about his crush on Titania, but it seemed Gwaine was more perceptive than he appeared. Hopefully Arthur wouldn't realize it, though, because then he would never hear the end of it.

"Why would I fall in love with Ty? She's just a friend, and anyway I'm going out with Gwen!" asked Arthur, who was still completely oblivious.

_ Sometimes I'm grateful he's about as smart as a cabbage…_  
><em>And as pretty as a donkey's -<em>

"I don't know, just throwing it out there. Forget I said anything," muttered Gwaine, interrupting Merlin's thoughts, "How'd you convince Gaius to let you guys go on this search party without any other knights anyway?"

"Oh, that was easy," said Merlin.

**FLASHBACK**  
>"Come on Gaius! We have to find them! What if they've been attacked by bandits, or mercenaries, or Cenred's men, or what if Morgana has them! Who knows what she will do to them!" pleaded Merlin.<p>

"Really Merlin, it's touching how much you care for the knights, but I simply can't spare you right now. Not to mention Arthur can't abandon Camelot right at the beginning of his reign! How would that look to other countries? It would make us appear weak, and I wouldn't be surprised if Morgana attacked within the week, if not the day!" Gaius argued.

"I'll scrub the floors for a week!" bribed Merlin.

"A month, plus no complaining about my cooking or Arthur for two weeks. I know the real reason you want to go anyway, Merlin," Gaius retorted.

"You, you do?" Merlin stuttered.

"Merlin, you are practically a son to me and I can read you like a book. Do you really think I wouldn't notice how love-struck you are with Titania?"

"Is it really that obvious?" Merlin groaned.

"Oh, no, only if you notice the hundred times you mention her in a day, no make that an hour, or how your eyes glaze over after she leaves the room and you start to daydream about her, or how you get tense when she barely brushes against you, or how—" said Gaius sarcastically.

"Okay, that's enough!" Merlin interrupted, turning a lovely shade of bright red.

"What I'm trying to say, Merlin, is that, though I understand why you are concerned for Titania's well-being, and rightly so, you cannot risk the kingdom and Arthur's life, as well as your own, just to ensure her safety! She is more than capable of taking care of herself, seeing as she is almost as powerful as you, lacking only in your ability to control dragons, courtesy of your father."

"Well, what should I tell the people of Camelot when Arthur ends up dead or insane from the pressure because Titania wasn't here to calm him with her magic?"

"I'm sure you can think of something. You are the most powerful sorcerer to ever live." Gaius replied sarcastically.  
><em><br>__ Think of something, think of something…_  
><em>I've got it!<em>

**End of Flashback**

"Oh, that was easy," said Merlin, "I didn't tell him we were leaving. I'm sure he'll figure it out in an hour or two when neither you or Arthur turn up for training and I'm nowhere to be found. Sure he'll be angry when we get back, but it's worth it. I mean, what could possibly happen in the time we're gone?"

"Hahaha, Merlin, you crack me up!" Gwaine laughed. "You do realize Gaius is going to kill you when we get back though, right? Like literally wait until you fall asleep, then come in and strangle you in the middle of the night and throw your body into the moat," he said, getting serious.

"He wouldn't do that. He cares about me too much, right?" questioned Merlin, suddenly nervous.

"Oh yah, Merlin, because everyone LOVES you sooooooo much!" Arthur shouted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

At the look on Merlin's face, Gwaine started laughing so hard he fell off his horse, scaring Arthur's horse, which in turn bucked him off right onto Merlin's lap. They both fell off the horse right onto Gwaine, who just so happened to be in a huge mud puddle.

"Ugh, get off me you fat cows!" groaned Gwaine, "I feel like I'm being sat on by a hippo!"

"Aw, shut up Gwaine, you're just jealous of how awesome I am!" shouted Arthur.

"Yah right!"

"You know you are!"

"Am not!"  
>"Are too!"<br>"Am not!"  
>"Are too!"<br>"Am n—"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty! Now can we get out of this mud and start searching?!" Merlin interrupted.

"Fine, bossy pants," pouted Gwaine, who stood up and dusted himself off, "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"

Sorry I didn't update quite as quickly, I just had a bit of trouble figuring out where this story was going. I think I have a pretty good idea now though, so updates might be a little bit faster! Thanks to everyone who's read this! It really would mean a lot if you would favorite, and comments always put me in a writing mood 


	6. Torture and Revenge

**Chapter 5******

**Third Person P.O.V.**

The clanking of chains and the sound of sobbing broke through the silence that permeated the dark and cold dungeon cell. The only source of light was a dying torch outside the cell on the hallway wall. The occupant of the cell was a young girl, about 19. It was clear she had been beautiful, but torture and hunger were slowly making their mark on her features. In little more than an hour, the chains and sobbing fell silent as the girl cried herself to sleep, praying for her love to come save her.

Meanwhile, in a different section of the dungeon, just out of earshot of the girl, her best friend and traveling companion was lying in another cell, this one smaller than the other girl's and partly submerged underwater. The water was to keep this girl's powers at bay, because she was a powerful sorceress, almost as powerful as her captor. She had manacles on her arms and legs, and whenever she tried to move or use her magic, an electric shock was run through the water, jarring her straight to the bone.

The two girls had been captured by none other than Morgana, Arthur's sister who, under the guidance of the late Morgause, had become the most powerful sorceress in all of the known world, and one of the most powerful wielders of magic, second only to Arthur's servant, Merlin. She was unaware of Merlin's true power, though, only seeing him as a lowly servant.

Instead of using her powers for good, she had turned to dark magic in her hatred for her father, Uther, and had now made killing Arthur and ruling Camelot her life's all-consuming goal.

She had found out, seemingly by mistake, that her fate was intertwined with an extremely powerful sorcerer named Emrys. The only problem was she had no idea who Emrys was. A reliable "source" of hers had told her that one of these girls knew who he was, and she was determined that she would get it out of them, one way or another.

So far, however, she hadn't managed to break either one of them. It seemed their loyalty to this "Emrys" was stronger than she had originally predicted. They seemed without flaws, being able to withstand huge amounts of pain and torture. They were as close to being unable to feel pain and fearless as she had ever seen.

The only thing that had gotten more than "I'll never tell you anything" or "I'd rather die than help a witch like you" out of them had been torturing one of them in front of the other. It seemed that their friendship ran deep. She just hoped their loyalty would be stronger to each other than to this Emrys.

At the moment, she was allowing them to rest. Don't misunderstand, however. It wasn't so much that she was concerned with their wellbeing, or she was feeling remorse for torturing them. She left them to their silence so that they could feel the full extent of their pain and wounds, and think on all she asked them.

It also seemed that they could communicate without speaking aloud, as they never said a word to one another, but they could tell the same lies as the other and seemed to always know when she was causing the other pain.

She would find their weakness, she was sure. And once she did, it didn't look so good for the sorcerer and the servant girl. Once she got the identity of Emrys, she would dispose of them and exact her revenge on her brother for taking what she felt was her rightful claim to the throne.

No matter what it took, she would break them.

Just give her time…


	7. Authors Note :) 2

So what did you guys think? I know it didn't have any funny parts in it and it seemed kinda dark compared to the rest of this story, but I really wanted to try and capture Morgana's evil nature. I love writing this kind of stuff ( I know, you're probably thinking "what the hell is wrong with her, she likes writing about pain and torture?" but I just really find it interesting and cool to write.)  
>If you guys like it, I might add a torture scene or two. If you don't like reading this kind of stuff and you just want funny Merlin, that can be arranged too. Please comment and tell me what ya think. I won't probably update until I get some feedback, so the faster you comment, the faster you get to read more chapters!<br>Sorry about the super long Author's Note, I just had to get that out there. Don't forget, I love you all! Thanks for reading, please comment and favorite!


	8. Kidnapped

**Chapter 6**

"Are we there yet?" Gwaine asked for the sixth time in an hour.

"NO!" yelled Merlin and Arthur, "please stop asking!"

"Just wondering, you guys are so grumpy," complained Gwaine.

"Well maybe we wouldn't be so grumpy if SOMEONE hadn't lost our tent! *cough* Gwaine *cough*." Arthur retorted.

"I said I was sorry!"

Merlin laughed, "Just leave it Gwaine. You know how he gets when he's in a "mood". So snappy…"

"Oh you shut it, I do NO-, wait, what was that?"

"What, is the mighty King scared of a few trees?" joked Gwaine.

"Shut up Gwaine, I'm trying to listen!" whispered Arthur harshly before dismounting his horse and walking over to the grove of trees, motioning for them to follow him, "I heard footsteps. I think someone's been following us. Merlin, ride ahead and see if you can see anything up there."

"Okay, I'll be right back," yelled Merlin, already galloping away.

"What are you talking about? I'm sure one of us would have heard something before now if that was true. You're just being parano—," said Gwaine, before he was hit on the back of the head with an ax handle and knocked out cold.

"Gwaine? You gonna finish your sentence or just stop in the middle like an idio—," Arthur asked, before meeting the same fate as Gwaine.

"Uh, guys? What's going on back there?" asked Merlin, who had ridden about an 1/8Th of a mile ahead.

Concerned, Merlin rode back down the trail to where the two men had just been. Once he got there, he found Gwaine and Arthur's horses were running in the opposite direction, both riderless.

_What the heck is going on? Where are they? Wait, did they get kidnapped?! I have to go help them before one of them does something stupid that gets them both killed! _

_ Now, where did they go? _

Merlin looked at the ground and saw footprints leading into the forest that went to the border with Cenred's kingdom. Now, he wasn't the best tracker, but even he could tell that was bad news. Not only did Cenred hate Camelot and Arthur, he was also a known supporter of Morgana.

_Hopefully Arthur's smart enough to realize telling anyone he's the King of Camelot would just put him in more danger. I better go find them and see who's kidnapped them. Good thing I've got magic and Arthur's back, or he would be better than dead…_

Ooh, a cliffhanger! Who do you think kidnapped them? Will Merlin be able to rescue them in time?  
>I'll try to update soon so you guys won't die from the suspense. Don't want to lose my readers after all<p> 


	9. feral dreams

**Chapter 7**  
>It was pitch black, no moonlight shining through the solitary window in her cell. She guessed it was around midnight, but had no way of knowing for sure. Her arms and wrists ached from being shackled to the wall so long, and her side and legs were bruised, burnt, and bleeding. It seemed that Morgana was either getting more creative, or more desperate, neither of which boded well for her.<p>

At the same time, she knew she wasn't the only one suffering. Titania had been subjected to different, but equally painful torture. Her magic was more of a curse than a blessing in Morgana's captivity. She had somehow found a way to use Ty's magic against her, and it was slowly but tortuously draining her strength.

Tonight had been one of the worst since the night they had been captured. Morgana had started using psychological torture with her magic, and it seemed to her that even after it was over, it messed with her sense of reality and made it near impossible to know what was real and what was just a nightmarish creation of Morgana's design. The only way she could keep herself sane was to rely on her memories to remember what people really acted like instead of believing these faux lies.

Deep in thought, the girl failed to notice the torchlight shining off the dark brick walls that signaled Morgana's return. Still facing the window, she slowly sank to the ground as Morgana's spell started to take hold of her mind. Out cold in her trance like sleep, Morgana walked back down the hall, knowing that her spell would take hold and work on its own. It would only let up when the girl figured out it wasn't real or it ended in a more _permanent_ manner...

___ She awoke on a cold floor. Opening her eyes, she realized she was still in Morgana's prison shackled to the wall. Nothing had changed, no one had come to rescue her or Ty, and no one probably would. She tried to step forward, but cried out in despair when she realized that not only had her situation not improved, it had gotten worse, for now her ankles and waist were shackled to the wall along with her arms. _  
><em><br>__ Down the hall, she heard soft footsteps coming towards her cell. Determined not to let Morgana see her agony at this new punishment, she put on a blank expression and stared at the wall opposite her. The footsteps grew closer and she had to resist the temptation to tense up at the thought of the new tortures that she would be subjected to. _  
><em><br>__ When the footsteps stopped just before the door that opened into the hallway that her cell was in, she started to realize something was off. Morgana never stopped at that door since she just unlocked and opened it with magic before she reached it. Why would she change that today?_  
>Maybe she had brought in someone else to help her get the information she wanted out of them, <em>the girl thought despairingly.<em>  
><em><br>__ The door opened slowly; the person opening it was trying to keep it from squeaking for some reason, like they were trying to hide their presence. When the person's silhouette came into view, she had to hold back a gasp. It was a shape she was extremely familiar with, but one that her brain didn't want to accept as real. _  
><em><br>__ But when the man's face was revealed in the soft torchlight, all doubt vanished from her mind. Gwaine had come! She had begun to lose hope that he would ever come for her, that he had moved on to another girl and forgotten about her. For a brief moment, she wondered if he had come alone, and if not, where the rest of the group was and if they were helping Ty. _  
><em><br>__ If she would have been thinking straight, she would have realized it was strange and unusual for Gwaine to have come alone to rescue her, but at the moment she was much too preoccupied with her joy at her love coming to save her. She hated to be a stereotypical girl who acted helpless and required her love to come rescue her like some damsel in distress, but despite her stubborn independence, she knew she would never escape on her own. _  
><em><br>__ She was just glad it was Gwaine, and not her brother, Arthur. If Arthur had been the one to save her, he never would have let her live this down. She knew from experience since he never failed to bring up the fact that she had caused their father to disown her when she went behind his back and started dating Gwaine when he had still been banished, occasionally sneaking him into the palace, whenever they were alone. Their forbidden meetings had angered Uther so much he had not only disowned her, but taken her right to the throne (she was the eldest, not Arthur, contrary to what everyone thought. They were technically twins, but she had been born first, securing her the right to the throne. Unfortunately, she had been disowned before meeting Merlin, and Gwaine had never learned her true identity, so no one but her, Arthur, and Gwen knew that they were siblings since they didn't look even remotely similar.)_  
><em><br>__ This was why she was a servant to the knights. Gwaine never suspected she was anything different since as a servant, she would have the same access to the castle and grounds as the Crown Princess._  
><em><br>__ He crept to the cell door and pulled out a key, motioning for her to be silent. He slowly pushed the key in the lock and turned it to the right, the tumblers barely making a sound. Sliding inside the cell, he rushed over to her side._

"Gwaine, how did you find me? Did you come alone? Is Ty safe? Does Morgana know you're here? How did you get that key? Did yo—" _she rushed out, before Gwaine silenced her by pressing his lips to hers in a short but passionate kiss._

"Just shut up for a moment and let me speak!" _he whispered into her ear, slightly laughing._

"Sorry, I just missed you. I started thinking that you weren't coming," _she told him, her voice betraying her anxious worried thoughts._

"I could never leave you here! Never think anything like that again! I never want you to be worried that I won't be there for you," _he said sincerely._

"I won't, I promise."

"Okay, good. We better get out of here before the witch realizes something's wrong or comes to check on you."

"Did you already free Ty? Or did Merlin come with you? It's obvious how much he cares for her; I'll be surprised if he didn't come."

"Um, no, I came alone. And we don't have time to go back for Ty. We have to get out of here now," _he said hurriedly._

_ Until that point, she had believed every word he had said, but she started to realize something was wrong. Gwaine loved Ty like a sister, and he would never dream of leaving her behind, even if it meant certain death._

"What do you mean? We can't just leave her for Morgana to torture to death!"

"Look, Juliana, we have about 5 minutes until Morgana realizes her keys are missing and storms down here to either kill us or imprison you again and force you to watch my execution," _he retorted harshly._

_ Something is definitely wrong; he never uses my full name!_

_When she still looked hesitant, he grabbed her bruised wrist and yanked her towards the dark hallway, having already unlocked her shackles. She tried to stifle her cry of pain, but it still came out as a strangled yelp. He didn't even turn to look at her, and continued to pull her until they were out of the cell completely._

_ Turning to face her, she noticed his eyes had taken a feral glint. He growled and shoved her back against the wall, pinning her wrists above her head._

"Gwaine, what are you doing?! This isn't like you!" _she said, her words coming out a bit shakier and more desperate than she would have liked._

_ When he didn't respond, she twisted her hand and pulled her right arm out of his grip like she had been taught when she was still__  
><em>_in her father's good graces and in training to inherit the throne. In addition to horseback riding and fencing, she also learned a good deal of self defense._

_ With her right arm free, she pushed Gwaine away from her and ducked to his left, ending up behind him. He turned with a frighteningly animistic snarl and grabbed her neck and waist. His grip was firm and she couldn't get away. He growled and shoved her to the ground, where she lay pinned on her back. His grip on her throat was gradually tightening, and breathing became a struggle._

_ She tried to push him away with her arms, but he had the weight and height advantage. He just pushed her further into the hard stone floor and tightened his grip. Leaning forward, he kissed her aggressively, bruising her lips. He bit her bottom lip, hard, until he drew blood._

_Licking it off, he growled into her mouth, "_I didn't come because I love you. You're nothing special, I just couldn't leave any loose ends. Once I'm done with you, I'll leave Morgana to clean up the mess and move on to another girl. Any girl could replace you, even a troll."

_Stunned and hurt, she stopped struggling momentarily, giving him the opening he was looking for. He pulled up from her, slightly releasing his grip on her to extend extremely sharp, deadly claws from his fingertips. He snarled, revealing vicious pure white fangs, the kind usually found on wolves or coyotes._

_He pulled his hand from her throat and shoved it over her mouth just before she could let out a scream. Unknowingly, he had given her the edge she needed. Since his hand wasn't strangling her anymore, she could retaliate without risk of him strangling her. Doing the first thing that came to mind, she bit his palm and kneed him between the legs. Sure it was a cheap shot, but he had a major advantage over her with his size, not to mention the claws and fangs..._


End file.
